


A New Look

by Varewulf



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Yuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-05-01 08:23:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14516307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Varewulf/pseuds/Varewulf
Summary: Tomoe has asked Himari to come over to get her opinion on some new clothing.But how will Himari react to the bombshell Tomoe drops?





	A New Look

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to write something with these two for a while, even before I started playing the mobile game. But it took me a while to work out how to do it. It ended up becoming really angsty, though it does have a happy ending in case you're worried. I just like being mean to fictional characters sometimes.

Himari had gotten a simple text from Tomoe: " _Hey, I got some new clothes. Could you come over and tell me what you think?_ "

She was naturally quite curious what it could be that Tomoe wanted her to look at. Tomoe was usually pretty confident in her style, so there being something she wanted an opinion on intrigued Himari.

She didn't have to wait long before the door opened. It was Tomoe herself who answered. She was wearing a red sweater and some black jeans that fit her usual, cool style, so that probably wasn't what she wanted Himari's opinion on.

"Ah, Himari! Come in." Tomoe stepped aside. "I'm glad you came."

Himari quickly stepped out of her shoes once inside. "No worries! You can always rely on me when it comes to clothes and fashion!" At least she thought so herself. The others may not always agree. "So what did you want to show me?"

"Um... let's talk about that upstairs," Tomoe said, and started heading up.

Himari got even more curious. Tomoe seemed a little embarrassed, and Himari had no idea what might cause that. She tried to imagine something, but nothing came to mind.

After they were in her room, and the door was firmly shut behind them, Tomoe sat down on the bed. And started fidgeting instead of saying anything.

"Well, don't keep me in suspense," Himari said, grabbing the desk chair for herself.

"Uh, right." Tomoe looked around, before looking at Himari. "Well... you know how you said a little while back that you think I might look good in cute clothes?"

"Yes?" Himari was already liking where this was going. Had Tomoe bought a cutesy dress, maybe?

"I figured I could maybe see if you were right... but I wanted to start small, so I bought some underwear..." Tomoe was awkwardly scratching her cheek, clearly embarrassed to admit this. "Would you mind having a look?" Her cheeks were tinged with a light pink.

Himari felt slightly disappointed that it wasn't a dress or a full outfit, but if it could lead to more... "I'd love to!"

Tomoe smiled a little, and got up. Then reached down, and started lifting her sweater up.

"W-w-wait, what are you doing?" Himari blurted out.

"Huh?" Tomoe paused. "I'm already wearing it, so I have to take this off to show you," she said. While she sounded a little bashful, she clearly thought that was just logical.

"Oh. Uh, yeah, of course, hehe," Himari said, laughing awkwardly. Of course it made sense that Tomoe would put the underwear on if Himari was to give a proper opinion on it. Yet somehow she hadn't expected that.

Stripping down revealed that Tomoe was wearing some cute, frilly underwear. Matching panties and bra, in a light pink colour fairly close to that of Himari's hair. It was not the kind of thing you'd expect to see under Tomoe's clothes, though in normal circumstances no one would see it anyway. Himari assumed that Tomoe wouldn't be wearing this to school when they had PE.

"Ooo, nice!" Himari said right away. It was even nicer and cuter than anything Himari owned. It seemed more like something for a special occasion.

"Thanks..." Tomoe was obviously embarrassed, but she stood her ground admirably, and wasn't covering herself up. Though she was twirling her long hair around her fingers, perhaps to keep herself occupied. "So... uh..."

"I think it suits you," Himari said honestly. Or perhaps it was because of how little it suited Tomoe's usual style that it seemed all the more appealing on her. An intriguing contrast.

"Really?" Tomoe didn't sound immediately convinced. "It's not too much...?" Her fingers toyed with the frills.

"Nope! You look very cute," Himari replied with a smile.

"Thank you..." Tomoe managed to smile as well.

It occurred to Himari that she hadn't really looked this closely at Tomoe's body since... maybe ever. It made a weird feeling well up inside her, so she quickly thought of something to say.

"I remember you turning down my suggestion. What made you change your mind?" she asked.

Tomoe blushed a little. "Well... I guess I... wanted a change... maybe..."

Himari couldn't help giggling. "Oh? For any particular reason?" she prodded.

Tomoe blushed deeper. "Er..." She put her hands over her face, and plopped back down onto the bed.

Himari's curiosity just kept growing. She almost never saw Tomoe like this. "You can tell me, you know. I'll keep your secret safe."

There was a pause. "Listen, Himari..." Tomoe said, and showed her face again. It was still pink. "How do you think of me?"

The question caught Himari off guard. "Huh? You're one of my best friends, of course." What sort of a weird question was that?

"Right..." Tomoe's tone of voice was hard to read. "Do you... do you think you could like me?"

Another weird question. "I already like you. We wouldn't be friends otherwise," Himari said.

"No, like..." Tomoe sounded a bit frustrated now. "Do you think you could _love_ me?"

Himari blinked. There was something strange about how Tomoe had said that. "What do you mean?" she had to ask.

Tomoe groaned. "Can't you take a hint..." she mumbled, though Himari was only barely able to hear it. "Do you think you could you fall in love with me?" she asked in a clearer voice.

"Eh?" The sentence echoed in Himari's mind. "But... we're both girls..." she blurted out without thinking. Wasn't that sort of love between boys and girls? Sure, she had sometimes thought ' _if you were a boy_ ' with regards to Tomoe, but...

Anger flashed across Tomoe's face. "Don't give me that! I've seen how you look at Kaoru-senpai."

"Er... that's... that's not..." _the same_. Himari wasn't able to say that final part out loud. She wasn't sure herself how it wasn't the same, but it didn't feel like the same. If anything, Kaoru was an anomaly. Girls didn't... did they? Suddenly Ran and Moca popped into her mind unbidden.

"I just wish you would see me too," Tomoe grumbled, and got up. "I'm right here!" She spread her arms, emphasising that she was indeed fully present. "I've always been here. And I love you, Himari."

Himari couldn't figure out how to process what she was hearing. How to understand what was going on.

"Well? Aren't you going to say anything?" Tomoe asked. Demanded.

Himari struggled to come up with something. "I..." She just couldn't think of any response.

A few moments later, Tomoe's posture sagged. "Sorry... forget it... forget I said anything." She turned her back to Himari. "Just... go home, Himari..." She sounded very tired all of a sudden.

Himari got up, and reached her hand forwards. "Tomoe, I-"

"Please. Leave." Tomoe cut her off, and Himari stopped in her tracks.

Himari's hand dropped. Not knowing what else to do, she picked up her handbag. She looked at Tomoe's unmoving back for a few seconds. "Sorry..." she mumbled before she left the room.

Down by the entrance she sighed as she grabbed her jacket off the rack.

"Eh? Are you leaving already, Hii-chan?" a voice behind her asked.

Himari turned. "Ako-chan?" It was indeed Tomoe's little sister. Wearing a black hoodie that had something that looked like wings on the back. "Ah, yeah... something came up..." Himari said, which was vague enough to not technically be a lie.

"Awww..." Ako's disappointment was so obvious that Himari might have laughed if she wasn't feeling so gloomy. But she tried to not let it show. "I was hoping we could all hang out. I found a movie and everything..."

"Sorry, Ako-chan." Himari forced a smile. "Some other time. I promise."

"Okay!" Ako perked up again quickly. "See you later, Hii-chan!" She waved as Himari went out the door.

Once safely outside, Himari let out an even deeper sigh. She had messed that up. That was what she was left feeling. Even though it was Tomoe who had suddenly sprung all of that on her, Himari couldn't help feeling like she had really messed that up. That she had hurt Tomoe.

Slowly she started making her way home.

It had never entered her mind before to think about Tomoe that way. Or any girl, for that matter. Kaoru surely didn't count. She was so different. All the girls were charmed by Kaoru. Tomoe... actually, when she thought about it, Tomoe also seemed to always get lots of gifts and letters from the girls in school. Himari just hadn't thought about it that way... for some reason.

Though she definitely had some things to think about now. _Do you think you could you fall in love with me?_ That sentence was still echoing in her mind. And there was yet another thing sticking with her: Had she seen tears in Tomoe's eyes?

* * *

The next day arrived, even though Himari kinda wished it wouldn't. She hadn't gotten a lot of sleep, as she'd been trying to figure out what to say to Tomoe when she saw her again. Tried to sort out the mess her heart had become. She swung between being angry at Tomoe for causing this, to feeling horrible about how she had hurt Tomoe.

Unfortunately it was nigh impossible to engage Tomoe that day. Not only was she acting like nothing had happened, but she was also actively avoiding being alone with Himari in any way. There was no chance for Himari to get a word in. Part of her wondered if that was for the best, but letting this go on for too long would probably make it much worse. Even if they both tried to forget it, could their friendship really return to what it was? Regardless of the outcome, they needed to talk this out. Even if just resulted in an argument, that would be something. A place to start. Rather than just wallowing in this pit of guilt.

She also found herself watching Ran and Moca, without meaning to. When she had asked herself whether girls could really be together that way, her mind had immediately leapt to Ran and Moca, as if that was just lurking in her subconscious. If there was any sign there that those two were... dating, then that might help Himari arrive at an answer. Maybe. Or maybe that was just her desperation talking.

Ran and Moca seemed closer to each other than to any of the others. They were all close friends, but there seemed to be something extra between those two. The way Ran could understand Moca, no matter what nonsense she was spouting. The way Moca always seemed to know where Ran was, and what she was doing. The way they sometimes moved and acted as if they were two parts of one being.

 _Holy crap, it seems so obvious when I really think about it. Why didn't I think about it before?_ Himari had no good answer for that. In spite of how the others teased her for being oblivious, she thought of herself as an observant, thoughtful, and understanding person. Sure, she had never seen Ran and Moca kiss, or anything like that, but if she had really been paying attention... maybe she would have also been able to realise Tomoe's feelings...

Beating herself up over it probably wasn't helpful, but it was hard not to. What was she going to do?

* * *

Rehearsal had proceeded as usual. Tomoe hadn't missed a beat, though her hits sounded a little harder than usual. Or maybe Himari was imagining things. As far as herself was concerned, she messed up a few times, but not that much more than usual. So at least no one made any specific comments about it.

She wasn't able to catch Tomoe after they were done. But maybe she wasn't trying as hard as she should either. She watched Tomoe vanish, before she set off on her own. Not home, but to Hazawa Coffee. She could have gone with Tsugumi earlier, but she had tried to hang back a little.

Himari basically dragged her feet the whole way over, so by the time she got there, Tsugu was already in uniform. There was one table already occupied, so Himari found a seat as far away from it as she could. She felt a little bad about talking to Tsugu about this, but she was getting nowhere on her own. Tsugu knew how to listen, and Himari definitely couldn't imagine talking to Ran or Moca about this.

"Tsugu, can I talk to you?" Himari asked when Tsugu came over. She sounded whinier than she had intended.

Tsugu offered a kind smile. "Sure, Himari-chan. Just give me a couple of minutes."

They were a long couple of minutes as Himari was left with her restless thoughts again. Wondering how much she should tell Tsugu.

Finally Tsugu came over and took the seat across from Himari. "Okay, I'm listening," she said, as usual. Himari had a habit of venting to Tsugu about anything and everything.

"It's... um... it's..." Himari realised she wasn't even sure how to start. "It's about... Tomoe..."

"Tomoe-chan?" Tsugu cocked her head slightly to the side.

"Yeah... I... she... we... a thing happened." Himari silently cursed herself for fumbling so much.

"What thing?" Tsugu asked patiently.

"Well... she kinda... um..." Himari really couldn't think of a way to dance around this. She looked around to make sure no one else was in earshot, and lowered her voice for good measure. "She told me she loves me."

"... ah."

"What? What's with that reaction?" Himari's eyes narrowed.

"Well, it's just..."

"Just?"

"I knew. I mean, I know," Tsugu said so matter-of-factly that Himari could only blink at her for several seconds.

"How? She told you?" Himari was confused.

"Oh, no. It's just so obvious." Tsugu sounded completely serious.

"It... it is?" It certainly hadn't been obvious to Himari.

"Moca-chan was the first to figure it out," Tsugu said, dropping another bombshell. "But once she pointed it out, it was really easy to see."

"Moca knows?!" Himari hissed in an effort to not yell. Tsugu nodded. "Then... Ran too?" Tsugu nodded again. "Ugh... why didn't you tell me?"

"We figured it was up to Tomoe to tell you. Unless you figured it out yourself first." Tsugu sounded a little apologetic.

That made sense, annoying as it was, but unfortunately Himari had not figured it out. Though she didn't even know what she would have done if she had.

"So... how did it go?" Tsugu asked cautiously. "You don't seem very happy, and... neither did Tomoe..."

Himari groaned, and gave a brief explanation of what had happened, ending with: "What do I doooo, Tsugu? I screwed up sooooo bad."

"I don't know, Himari-chan. I'm not really an expert," Tsugu admitted. "But you should probably talk to Tomoe-chan."

Himari sank down in her seat. "She's avoiding me. I haven't been able to get a private word in all day."

"Send her a text," Tsugu suggested quite simply.

"Um..." Himari actually hadn't thought of that. She had been hoping to get at least one moment alone with Tomoe today, and that hadn't happened at all.

"Or put a letter in her shoe locker!"

"Huh? No no no no, I couldn't-" Himari started protesting, but then saw Tsugu was laughing. "Eeesh, Tsugu, this isn't funny."

"Heehee, sorry Himari-chan, I couldn't help myself." At least it was an attempt at lightening the mood a little. "But... um... what do you intend to tell her?" Tsugu asked, back on track.

Himari blanked. She still hadn't come up with anything. She had just been so focused on getting to talk to Tomoe today, that she had forgotten about figuring out _what_ to say. "I don't... know..."

Tsugu cocked her head to the side, and raised a finger to her cheek, before very carefully asking: "Do you... love her back?" Stabbing right at the heart of the matter that Himari had been avoiding.

* * *

" _Please, Tomoe. I need to talk to you. I know I screwed up, just please talk to me_."

That was the fourth text Himari had sent since this morning. The first three had gone ignored, and so had the one last night. The app said they had been read, but whether Tomoe had actually read them, or just cleared the notifications, she had no way of knowing. She had tried being brief, and being verbose. Now she was just desperate.

She stared at her phone. She was doing her best to not spam messages. Giving Tomoe some time to reply after each one. But she really wanted to try one more, even though it hadn't even been half an hour since she sent the last one. To resist the temptation, she put the phone down on the desk, and threw herself onto the bed across the room. Now she'd have to get up to reach it.

Talking to Tsugu had helped, but Himari had still done a lot of thinking on her own afterwards. About herself, and about Tomoe. How things were, and had been, between them. She had been forced to admit to herself that maybe she was as oblivious as Moca kept saying she was. She hadn't realised how much she relied on Tomoe for all sorts of things. And how lost she'd be without her. How lost she felt right now. So she had set her mind to what she felt she needed to do. It was just that getting to do it was proving to be a problem.

Maybe Tsugu's idea to put a letter in Tomoe's locker wasn't the worst.

Suddenly the phone rang, which startled Himari enough that she fell out of bed. Ignoring the pain in her side, she pushed herself up, and darted for the phone. Her eyes went wide when she saw who was calling.

She hit the answer button as fast as she could. "Tomoe?!" she called out, barely bringing the phone up to her ear in time.

"What do you want?" Tomoe's voice asked in the other end. She sounded quite irritated.

"To talk to you. To see you in person," Himari said quickly.

"Well, I don't want to see you." Sharp. Harsh. Like a dagger to Himari's heart.

"Please..."

"No."

"Tomoe..." Himari wanted to cry, but she needed to hold it together.

"Is that all?" Tomoe asked.

"W-wait!" Himari hoped it was a good sign that Tomoe seemed to be giving her a chance, however small it was. "I'm really sorry for what I did, and..." She really hadn't wanted to say this if it wasn't face to face, but she feared she wouldn't get any other chance. "I love you."

It went quiet on the other end. "What?" Tomoe said after what felt like an eternity.

"I've been thinking about it a lot, and I love you too, Tomoe. Please just let me-"

_*click*_

The line went dead. "Tomoe?" No response.

Himari tried calling back, but it got rejected. Two times. Three times. She fell to her knees. Was that it? Had she lost it all? Tears started rolling down her face. Then there was a beep. She hurriedly wiped her tears on her sleeve, and looked at the phone.

It was a text from Tomoe. " _Are you serious?_ " That was all it said.

Himari typed a response as quickly as she could. " _Yes. Of course. I wouldn't lie or joke about this._ " Hope was quick to blossom anew.

" _Stay there,_ " said the next text.

Himari wiped her eyes again, to make sure she hadn't read it wrong. " _What do you mean?_ " she sent back, but there wasn't any response. It didn't say the message was read either, even though she knew for a fact that Tomoe had been holding her phone mere seconds ago. " _Tomoe?" "What do you mean?" "Stay where?" What is going on?_ " No responses, no notification of them being read. With nothing to go on, Himari wondered if some sort of accident had happened. Or something. She tried calling again, but it wasn't even rejected, it just went to voicemail after timing out.

As she was pondering calling the landline to Tomoe's house to check with her parents, the doorbell rang. Himari froze with anxiety and anticipation. Could it be...? She heard her mother answer the door, and then someone's quick footsteps came up the stairs. Her door burst open, and there stood Tomoe. Panting hard to catch her breath.

"T-Tomoe?!" Himari wasn't sure if she believed it. Had Tomoe sprinted over? "W-what are you-"

"Are you... really serious?" Tomoe came inside, and closed the door behind her.

"Huh?" It took Himari a moment to realise what Tomoe was even talking about, such was the shock of suddenly seeing her here. "Y-yes. I'm serious," she said, getting up from the floor. "What..."

"Then say it. Tell me," Tomoe demanded. Himari noticed that Tomoe's eyes looked a little red.

"I..." Himari's stomach was fluttering so hard it was incredibly distracting. "I... love you," she finally managed to say.

Tomoe's stern facade broke as a smile graced her lips. "Himari..."

Himari cracked too, and threw herself at Tomoe, hugging her tight. "Tomoeeeeeeee!"

"Oof!" Tomoe got knocked back against the door. It was quite possible they heard that slam downstairs.

"I'm so sorry!" Himari said, trying not to sob. Now that Tomoe was here, all of her feelings seemed to want to come out at once. "I really love you!"

"I love you too, Himari," Tomoe said, sounding a bit choked up herself.

"How did you know I was here?" Himari asked. She was certain she hadn't mentioned she was at home.

"Because I know you," was all Tomoe gave as a response.

Himari squeezed her tighter, not knowing what else to say right now. She didn't want to let go.

"I'm still angry with you, you know," Tomoe added.

"Okay," Himari said. She could live with that, so long as Tomoe stayed with her.

Angry or not, Tomoe started patting Himari's head gently, running her fingers softly through her hair, as Himari buried her face in Tomoe's shirt.

**Author's Note:**

> I've never actually seen Ako interact with any of the Afterglow members besides her sister, so I wasn't sure how she'd address Himari. But I have to assume that she knows all of them, so I just stole/transplanted the way Ako talks to Lisa.  
> Update! I got information that Ako calls Himari "Hii-chan", so I've cheekily edited that bit.


End file.
